"shifting"

I am looking at the different structures between contemporary and traditional.

Traditions are shifting to stereotypes in this contemporary consumer society. The key words of contemporary development are "easier" and/or "convenience". For instance, the computer has expanded all over the world and it has already become a part of our society. Therefore, due to the rise of digital equipment such a video projector, one of the biggest production companies has already stopped the product line of the slide projector.

Slide projectors are shifting to video projectors along with the key words "easier" and/or "convenience". Actually digitalize has a big meaning for the future’s development. Nevertheless slide projector shows much beautiful and fine photographic quality of images. Video projectors show pixelated images therefore it is impossible to reveal the clear detail of images. Essential aim of projectors, which is to show high qualities of images, is shifting to opposite side. This shifting is very similar to the development of contemporary and traditional structures, especially structure of urban city.

My previous work "timeless" shows the ways in which we encounter aspects of traditional and contemporary culture. This work is a video projection and it has developed a dialogue using film, sound and textiles. In Japanese culture, the Kimono is a typical example of this, today in Japan the Kimono is only worn on special occasions and has increasingly faded from everyday life.

A series of short films using the urban sprawl of Japans capital city, Tokyo. The films reveals the physical relationship to environment of the city and it’s contents of this urban environment such as trains, platforms, billboards, lights, signboards, sounds and so on. These films are projected onto typical Japanese traditional "kimono" as a screen. As the projection of the film occurs, the light from the projected images causes the surface of the screen to glow. The glow gradually fades as the image of film moves onto different parts of the screen. This interaction makes a variety of images, changing the appearance of the colour and patterns that have been separated and then re-combined.

We can indicate which is the contemporary or traditional Japanese culture quite easily. The re ason is that it is sudden traditional culture changes to Japanese style western culture, which began about 200 years ago. However, most western cultures have a blurred boundary between traditional and contemporary that is because western culture is consisted gradually and is shifting to the form of city now. This shift is also similar to the relationship between slide and video projectors, which slide projector developed to video projector in only one generation even though it is an enormous change.

I make a work "shifting", which combined traditional and contemporary references of two disparate elements/ideas in this work. It includes a short film and slides, using video and slide projectors and sound of London. Also the sound of the slide projector is used as an effective sound along side of the sound of video projector. A video projector shows a short film, which investigate the relationship between the physical environment of the city and it’s inhabitants; architectures, buses, billboards, lights, evoking the smell, sounds, chaos and fracture of this urban environment of contemporary urban city, London.

A slide projector shows traditions of London. However, some of traditional images might have been shifted to stereotypes. Images of the both projectors are projected onto the same part of the wall repeatedly and showing images continuously. The mixed image of the projectors and the methods of presentation create a different structure with more complex layers of meaning and "high visual impact (Alexander, D. (2005)."slide show”. London. Tate Publishing P. 9)" which is experimental sampling processes exploring its manipulation of a video and slide projector.

The time of the film and the rotation of slide projection are different and this presentation never shows the same images, therefore this work creates variety of elements that have been once separated and then re-combined. Also this interaction creates multiple images, changing the appearance of the colour and patterns that suggests ways in which we encounter aspects of traditional and contemporary structures.

I will also analyse three artworks through the keywords space, time and narrative in connection to my work and an investigation is focused on the key words to develop my work.

The work named “Flower” (1998), which is made by Peter Fischli and David Weiss. They projected flower images on the same part of the wall with using two slow-dissolve slide projections. “In this series they have sustained the pleasure, the sensual delight of flowers as a motif, making this one of their most disarming and convincing series of work (quoted in Fleck, R. Sontgen, B. Danto, C, A. Peter Fischli and David Weiss. London. Phaidon Press Limited. 2005. p53)” This series of work give visual pleasure of mixed images that are the fascination of flowers.

I am also looking at Chris Maker’s work called “La Jetee”, 1962. The story is that after the Third World War, scientists force the survivors to retreat underground. The survivors conducted strange time travel experiments in an effort to escape from present to past or future. During the film there are sound, narrated voice and whisper that make layers and it is made of black and white still images. This work is related to death and memory.

Finally, the artwork “Caterpillar” 2001 made by Win Delvoye. Much of his work emanates from the confrontation between historical objects and contemporary references that seemingly have nothing to do with each other, thus striking a balance between the reality of the moment and the romantic glorification of the past. In his life-size replicas of Caterpillar excavators, Delvoye juxtaposes medieval craftsmanship with machine-age technology. These massive sculptures are made in steel and perforated with Gothic filigree, transforming familiar icons of productivity into ornate, non-utilitarian objects. He questions what is sacred and what utilitarian as they inhabit the worlds of the banal and the distinctly uncommon. Also the work has the relationship between space and the work.